What most admired brands in Africa reveal: You can't go wrong with food, beer - and hope

Africa dreaming: Majority of most admired companies are aspirational brands, the kind that can help you land a date.

The actress of Nigerian group Hear Word in Vlisco attire. In 2011 Africa generated 95% of Vlisco’s $250 million in net sales. (Photo/Vlisco/FB).

THIS week, tech giant Apple has recorded the biggest annual profit in corporate history, with
record sales of the iPhone helping it to make $53.4bn in profit in the last 12
months – that’s nearly equivalent to Kenya’s entire annual Gross Domestic
Product (GDP). If you slice it apart even further, Apple made a profit of
$1,693.11 every second in the past year.

It’s remarkable
that a technology company would out-perform every single corporate organisation
that has made the modern world as we know it: all the energy, steel, metals and
mining companies.

But it’s a
testament to the power of the digital age, which, when stripped down to its
basics, is really selling aspirations – and hope is the best selling product of all time.

You can see it
in the recently released Brand Africa 100 rankings, which list Africa’s most
admired, and most valuable brands – both global companies, and homegrown
African ones. MTN topped the
most admired brand in Africa list; the South African mobile operator was also
Africa’s most valuable homegrown brand.

Apple was the
most valuable global brand – small wonder considering the company’s sterling
financial performance, largely on the back of iPhone sales.
But Apple didn’t
make it into the top 10 of most admired brands in Africa, likely because of the
high price tag of most of its products relative to incomes on the continent, unlike like rival Samsung’s.

Still, the bulk
of the most admired companies are aspirational brands, the kind that are not necessarily essential to daily life, but can give you bragging rights, improve your social
standing and can help you land a date: electronics and mobile companies, like MTN,
Samsung and Apple; apparel brands, including Nike and Adidas, or auto
manufacturers such as Mercedes Benz, Toyota and BMW.

Facebook posted
a 146% increase in its brand value from last year’s rankings, the largest
increase in the list – Facebook now has 100 million active users in Africa, and
80% of those come on mobile. That 100 million makes up 50% of all Africans
connected to the Internet; in other words, Facebook is the entry point for
Internet use for many Africans.

Never go wrongIt suggests
that to make it big in Africa, one should just keep it simple and basic – you
can never go wrong with food and beer, it seems.

What is also
remarkable are the companies that are not on the top 10 list: such as “African fabric” manufacturer Vlisco,
recognisable for its bright colours, bold patters, and boxy geometrical
designs.

Vlisco is so
ubiquitous in most of West Africa today that few people even realise it is not
an African brand; the Dutch company was acquired by British private equity firm
Actis in 2010 for $151 million, and has transitioned from a retailer of fabric
to a fully-fledged fashion house, releasing 20 to 30 designs every few months
to outpace the Chinese imitations that have encroached the market.

Vlisco has been
retailing in Africa for more than 100 years, and has survived all kinds of
turbulence in Africa’s political and economic landscapes; in 2011, Africa
generated 95% of Vlisco’s $250 million in net sales that year.

But there are
other hugely popular products in Africa that only didn’t make the list because
they are “unbranded”, such as African
Black Soap (also known as Dudu Osun), a classic example of a traditional
product enjoying a resurgence in popularity, due to its ability to clear skin
spots and blemishes.

Shea
butter is also becoming a hot commodity in many African cities – in Nairobi for
example, posters advertising “original shea butter from Ghana” abound in many
local beauty parlours.